Civilisation.--Simplicité.--L'instinct.--La science et la politique.--La crise.--La syumpathie.--Les sociétés animales.--Intelligence et phénomènes d'adaptation.--La mémoire, l'intelligence et la raison.--La valeur de la science.--L'intuition.--L'attention et la distraction.--Phénomènes de télépathie.--L'inspiration.--La science et la croyance.--Mysticisme.--L'âme et la mémoire.--De la vie à la mort.--La sensation.--La subconsience.--La loi de Ribot.--La fin de l'univers envisagée par les matérialistes.--L'intuition et la guerre.

Par le biais d'un glossaire "de nos fiertés et de nos insatisfactions", Edgard Pisani fait l'inventaire des causes que sa génération a défendues, des combats qu'elle a menés, mais aussi des innombrables questions laissées sans réponse par imprévoyance, insuffisance, repli sur soi, hésitation. A un impossible récit chronologique, Edgard Pisani a préféré l'énumération alphabétique "des idées que nous avons taquinées". Trois générations, à qui tout semblait possible et dont les survivants d'aujourd'hui craignent les lendemains, se succèdent dans cet (...) ouvrage. Une sorte de testament politique qui redonne confiance. (shrink)

O objetivo desse texto é levantar algumas questões sobre as raízes do judaísmo de Paulo, ou dos referenciais judaicos que sustentam a sua visão de mundo - no decorrer de suas jornadas após a visão da estrada de Damasco. Há elementos para afirmar que além do seu farisaísmo assumido, Paulo recolheu concepções teóricas de outros movimentos judaicos do período. Tendo lido ou conhecido elementos das principais tendências do pensamento apocalíptico. Utilizou esses conceitos no sentido de atuar não só junto aos (...) judeus influenciados pelo farisaísmo como também junto àqueles outros inseridos na tradição apocalíptica. Acreditamos que Paulo expressa, além do mais, a culminância de uma tradição judaica consistente. Tradição que vinha, literariamente, do terceiro Isaías e que culminou, talvez, no Livro dos Jubileus, que defendia a necessária universalização messiânica da experiência religiosa judaica. Paulo ultima essa tradição e a transforma de experiência meramente teórica em prática concreta realizada numa perspectiva messiânica. (shrink)

Resumo Este estudo desenvolve uma análise do desenvolvimento do papel dos sonhos e das visões na literatura bíblica. Busca apontar as diferentes abordagens do tema segundo os diversos redatores bíblicos e seus os momentos históricos específicos. Pondo em relevo, principalmente, o papel da literatura profética e das ações do Estado como introdutores de uma relativização do caráter dos sonhos como elementos justificadores teológicos. Discutimos, a seguir, a recepção desse material pelos rabinos, autores do Talmude. Apontamos que a discussão rabínica sobre (...) o tema segue a perspectiva literária mais ampla, mas aprofunda as preocupações gerais com o império das visões sobre o olhar religioso. Provavelmente por conta das trágicas experiências políticas derivadas do pensamento apocalíptico e sua inclinação geral às revelações oníricas. De uma forma geral os rabinos do Talmude procuram resolver o problema do papel instabilizador dos sonhos através do simultâneo reconhecimento de sua importância e redução ou delimitação de sua relevância enquanto experiência de revelação religiosa. Palavras-chave: Judaísmo; Teologia judaica; Talmude; Sonhos na Bíblia; Sonhos no Talmude.This paper focuses on the development of the role of dreams and visions in biblical literature, presenting different approaches to the theme according to the various biblical authors and their specific historical moments. It emphasizes the influence of prophetic literature and State actions in the relativization of the nature of dreams as theological justifications. It then analyzes the reception of this material by the rabbis who wrote the Talmud. We sustain that the rabbis follow the wider literary mainstream but express a general concern for the empire of visions within the religious scope. That is maybe due to tragic political experiences derived from their apocalyptic thought and to their natural tendency to oniric revelation. We conclude that the Talmud rabbis tried to solve the problem of the destabilizing role of dreams by simultaneously recognizing their importance and reducing or limiting their relevance as a religious revelation experience. Key words: Judaism; Jewish theology; Talmud; Dreams in the Bible; Dreams in the Talmud. (shrink)

Neste artigo abordaremos como a inspeção do espírito ocorre tratando a percepção da cera como um poder intelectual de conhecer, em vista da natureza do ego cogitans, na medida que a faculdade do entendimento e a faculdade da vontade operam por complementaridade. Para tanto, abordaremos a Meditação Segunda, sobretudo a segunda parte desta meditação, com complementos explicativos de outras meditações e obras do filósofo, de forma a mostrarmos que a questão da correção dos sentidos, diante do impasse epistêmico ocasional na (...) apreensão dos dados sensíveis, remete implicitamente ao jogo operativo da teoria cartesiana das faculdades. (shrink)

A proposta do presente artigo é discutir alguns apontamentos de Heidegger acerca da questão do cogito como sujeito em Descartes, tendo em vista a compreensão cartesiana do cogito interpretado como representação ou como presença, e as possíveis contribuições que a interpretação heideggeriana pode trazer acerca da questão da subjetividade no pensamento de Descartes.

According to Kant, all finite rational beings are unconditionally bound to obey the moral law, expressed in the formula of the categorical imperative. The assent (the taking to be true) to this law is a practical knowledge, since its ground is objectively and subjectively sufficient. However, the immortality of the soul and the existence of God are not objects of practical knowledge but just objects of practical faith, of moral faith more precisely, for the assent to them has a barely (...) subjectively sufficient ground and is not a necessary consequence of this knowledge of the moral law. According to our interpretation of the Kantian philosophy, the ground of moral faith in God's existence and in the immortality of the soul will be found only in the finite rational being with a disposition (Gesinnung) for the actual fulfilment of the moral law. We will defend this interpretation and maintain that the radical evil of human nature, diagnosed by Kant, prevents all men from having a moral faith, which does not mean that this obstacle is unsurmountable, since the conversion of men into Good is possible. In our view, what makes this conversion feasible is the possibility (implicit in Kant's thought) of an irregular act of the free-will, that of adopting a good fundamental maxim. (shrink)

In the Introduction to the Transcendental Dialectic, of the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant presents a conception of error. In the (Jäsche) Logic, he also deals with the problem of error, albeit in a different way. This paper aims to highlight this difference and arguing that, in the (Jäsche) Logic, error is explained more consistently and suitably than it is in the Transcendental Dialectic. It begins by considering judgment as the place of truth, falsehood and error, and inquiring into the (...) cognitive faculties that take part in its framing. These faculties, whose roles cannot be interchanged, are the sensibility, passive and receptive, and the understanding, active and spontaneous. Erroneous judgment springs from the unnoticed influence of sensibility on understanding, which makes the understanding hold merely subjective grounds of judgment to be objective ones. In the Transcendental Dialectic, this unnoticed influence is conceived in such a way that sensibility is, in a certain sense, held to be the determining ground of error, as if it were an active faculty, whereas in the (Jäsche) Logic that influence is conceived in such a way that the understanding itself is regarded as the source and author of error. This author agrees with the conception of the understanding as submitted to prescriptive laws, which is contained in the very definition of Pure General Logic, as a science of the a priori laws of how the understanding ought to think. (shrink)

Na Estética Transcendental, Kant conclui que o espaço e o tempo são formas da sensibilidade e intuições puras. Neste trabalho examina-se a exposição metafísica dos conceitos de espaço e tempo, relacionando-a com a concepção de grandezas extensivas, da Analítica Transcendental. Em seguida examina-se o procedimento adotado na Estética Transcendental para a obtenção daqueles resultados. Não se pretende considerar toda a argumentação kantiana, mas apenas alguns de seus pontos, levantando questões sobre estes. Parece que a afirmação de Kant de que a (...) intuição pura do espaço contém em si as representações de espaços limitados é problemática e discorda do procedimento que ele se propõe seguir na Estética Transcendental. Parece que esta mesma conclusão é válida no que diz respeito ao tempo. (shrink)

The existence of the German cultural community was guaranteed by the articles 3ter and 59ter of the Constitution and its organisation was institutionalized by the Law of July 10th, 1973. In 1980 the notion «German cultural community» in art. 3ter of the Constitution was replaced by the notion «German-speaking community».The reform of the statute of the German-speaking community has to be executed within the following limits : 1° an executive power that is accountable to the council can only be granted (...) after revision of art. 59ter of the Constitution; 2° there seems no harm in granting power to modify laws and to legislate with exclusion of the national legislator to the council, as long as the exercise of this power is submitted to, judicial review ; 3° the enlargement of the council's competence to the «personalized matters» does not require the revision of art. 59ter. The enlargement of the council's competence to some «regional affairs» is possible without revision of the Constitution, as long as the council does not receive the same competence as the Flemish, Wallon and Brussels region; 4° it is possible to grant the German-speaking community theyield of a part of some taxes. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Capitalism as Religion and Religious Pluralism:An Approach from Liberation TheologyJung Mo Sungreligious pluralism and the struggle of the godsReligious pluralism as a social fact, namely, the coexistence of different religions within a social system, be it a country or an empire, is not anything new. The mere contact with other people and their various religions, for example, through commerce, still does not indicate religious pluralism. In this case, each (...) group of people has its religion and its gods, and recognizes that other groups of people exist with other religions and other gods. Religious pluralism occurs when, because of immigration or the conquest of one people over another, groups of people with different religions live together in the same social space.Whether by immigration or by conquest, the resulting religious pluralism does not occur in an egalitarian or harmonious manner. Immigrants are forced to live out their religion within their group as a marginal religion in society, or even in hiding when it is not accepted in the society where they went to seek a livelihood. In the case of conquest or expansion of empires, the conquering power imposes its cultural values and religion on the conquered peoples. The empire can try to extinguish the religions of conquered peoples and impose their own as if it is the only one acceptable, or tolerate them as long as these religions do not question the imperial order. This means that the coexistence of different religions within the empire takes place in a hierarchical relationship: The religion of the empire is the ultimate and the others are tolerated provided they accept their place as subordinate. The Roman Empire was an example of an empire that tolerated the religions of subject peoples as long as they didn’t question the absolute power of the empire, with its own empire religion and emperor worship.In this historical context, it is empirically impossible to live out a third way: recognizing the otherness of the other and respecting their religion as we respect our [End Page 155] own. That’s because the “encounter” between religions takes place in a situation of colonial conquest and domination. Expecting that there could be a relationship of respect and dialogue among equals would ignore the role of religion in premodern societies, especially in the processes of domination.In these societies, religion has the function of being the foundation of the world-view that legitimized the existing social order, as well as the process of external conquest. Religion fulfills the function of legitimizing and justifying the conquest and consequent exploitation and oppression of the conquered people. Therefore, religion performs a key task for systems of oppression, the reversal of evil into good: conquest as peace; exploitation as the path to salvation or integration into civilization. Furthermore, religion transcendentalizes the imperial system of oppression and presents it as eternal or as an expression of divine will. Therefore, how to classify religions and manage their coexistence is not just a problem for religious leaders, but also a matter of the state, a matter of interest for the king or emperor. The limits of religious tolerance are determined by the interests of the dominant social system, even when they are often discussed in religious or theological language.Of course, no religion, even those that perform the function of legitimizing an empire, is totally homogeneous. Within a religion, there is or can be a certain “theological pluralism.” The figure of Las Casas in the Spanish conquest of America is an example of the contradictions that are in all religions. But the defense of the Indians and their religion that was made by Las Casas had to be made in the court of the king of Spain. The means of evangelization and the ways of seeing the culture and religion of the Indians (i.e., the other) is a problem of the state, and not just the Church.Before thinking about the ideal of a religious pluralism that makes possible “a fraternal living together of religions as also a covenant of all those in favor of Peace and the Common Good of Humanity and the Planet,”1 we must also remember that the Bible... (shrink)

This study investigated the perception of Mandarin tonal alternations in disyllabic words. In Mandarin, a low-dipping Tone3 is converted to a high-rising Tone2 when followed by another Tone3, known as third tone sandhi. Although previous studies showed statistically significant differences in F0 between a high-rising Sandhi-Tone3 and a Tone2, native Mandarin listeners failed to correctly categorize these two tones in perception tasks. The current study utilized the visual-world paradigm in eye-tracking to further examine whether acoustic details in lexical tone aid (...) lexical access in Mandarin. Results showed that Mandarin listeners tend to process Tone2 as Tone2 whereas they tend to first process Sandhi-T3 as both Tone3 and Tone2, then later detect the acoustic differences between the two tones revealed by the sandhi context, and finally activate the target word during lexical access. The eye-tracking results suggest that subtle acoustic details of F0 may facilitate lexical access in automatic fashion in a tone language. (shrink)

This paper presents a critical appraisal of the recent turn in comparative religious ethics to virtue theory; it argues that the specific aspirations of virtue ethicists to make ethics more contextual, interdisciplinary, and practice-centered has in large measure failed to match the rhetoric. I suggest that the focus on the category of the human and practices associated with self-formation along with a methodology grounded in “analogical imagination” has actually poeticized the subject matter into highly abstract textual studies on normative voices (...) within traditions, largely in isolation from considerations of socio-historical context, political and institutional pressures, and the lived ethics of non-elite moral actors. I conclude with some programmatic suggestions for how the field of comparative religious ethics can move forward. (shrink)

Time distortion in individuals with social anxiety has been defined as the seemingly slower passage of time in social situations and is related to both arousal and valence. Consequently, adaptive behavior is disrupted and interpersonal situations avoided. We explored the effects of valence and arousal on time distortion in individuals with social anxiety. Participants were assigned to two groups, High Anxiety (HA) and Low Anxiety (LA), presented with four types of facial expression stimuli (positive-high arousal, positive-low arousal, negative-high arousal, and (...) negative-low arousal), and asked to estimate the duration of stimulus presentation. Results indicated that, relative to other stimuli, the HA and LA groups perceived longer presentation for high-arousal negative and low-arousal positive stimuli, respectively. These findings suggest that anxious individuals’ time distortion was more severe in situations that evoked high arousal and involved negative emotion. (shrink)

This paper presents a critical appraisal of the recent turn in comparative religious ethics to virtue theory; it argues that the specific aspirations of virtue ethicists to make ethics more contextual, interdisciplinary, and practice-centered has in large measure failed to match the rhetoric. I suggest that the focus on the category of the human and practices associated with self-formation along with a methodology grounded in “analogical imagination” has actually poeticized the subject matter into highly abstract textual studies on normative voices (...) within traditions, largely in isolation from considerations of socio-historical context, political and institutional pressures, and the lived ethics of non-elite moral actors. I conclude with some programmatic suggestions for how the field of comparative religious ethics can move forward. (shrink)

This paper examines the antecedents of organizational commitment for adopting corporate environmental responsibility and green practices in the case of the logistics industry in South Korea. Seven hundred and eighty employees and top management from logistics companies were sampled. The data were analyzed using factor analysis, structural equation modeling techniques, and one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that social expectations, organizational support, and stakeholder pressure were the important antecedents for the adoption of corporate environmental responsibility and green practices. In (...) the path analysis, social expectations had the greatest impact on both stakeholder pressure and green practice adoption. Moreover, we found that the higher the job titles were, the more willing they were to adopt green practices. This indicated that the current top management of Korean logistics companies is well aware of being mandated to make a commitment to corporate environmental responsibility and green practices. (shrink)

The recent controversy over whether Marxism is an ecologically viable theory or can justify astate of harmony between man and nature has a serious flaw because none of the participants in the discussion seems to think that technology is intrinsic to the reconciliation of man with nature. While it is correct that the writings of the early Marx offer some basis for the reconciliation, the later Marx was preoccupiedwith the question of nature’s instrumentality or the human significance of nature, and (...) he saw technology as the human mode of dealing with nature. Marx and Marxists have contributed to making us aware of man’s exploitation of and alienation from other men, but not man’s exploitation of and alienation from nature. To eradicate the second requires a radical deconstruction of modern technomorphic culture and its metaphysical foundations. (shrink)

The voice of Orpheus symbolizes the everlasting importance of music and poetry in the animus of man. According to the ancient legend, Orpheus by his very gift of music tills the radical sense of enjoyment in us all and enables entire nature to dance in delight. Music resonates the most primordial and invariant mood of man in his harmony with the universe from time immemorial. On the basis of the image of “roundness” derived from the auditory model of space, an (...) “ecotopia” or a new orientation of ecological ethics is projected. By affirming man as the responsible caretaker of the Earth, it rejects both speciesism and individualism -the antitheses of social principle. (shrink)

This paper begins by pointing out the commonality of phenomenology and pragmatism, particularly by referring to Husserl and Dewey, respectively, but it soon turns to fundamental differences. The common starting point is the acknowledgement of everyday experience as the basis of any scientific proposition as well as any non-scientific notion of the world. Phenomenology and pragmatism are allies in their rejection of scientism. However, while Husserl reflects on the structure of experience in order to establish a theoretical view that allows (...) us to scrutinize ordinary and scientific experience from without, from some privileged standpoint, Dewey states that the process of experience, properly conceived and due to its entanglement with action in a contingent world, is always already self-reflective. Philosophy is thus conceived of as the practice of internal criticism that relies on the very form of contingent experience, not, as in Husserl’s work, as some transcendental foundation drawing upon an ideal of timeless reason. Husserl’s conception of philosophy is scientific, while anti-scientistic, whereas Dewey sees philosophy as structurally different from science while mediating between it and all other forms of experience. (shrink)

ABSTRACTBy showing its organic linkage between theories of human nature and governance, this article illustrates that the Huainanzi is a scripture that holds a systematic and unique theory. The ideal governance of the Huainanzi is mystical transformation, i.e. the Daoist concept of non-action. Rule by simple Confucian rituals is not at odds with mystical transformation. However, mystical transformation does not include the rule by rituals. Moreover, excessively complicated rituals are incompatible with mystical transformation. Human nature in the Huainanzi does not (...) contradict humanity and righteousness. Human nature’s growth into humanity and righteousness is as natural as the approach of a butterfly to flowers. However, the humanity and righteousness of the Huainanzi are not innate to human nature. Likewise, unlike a flower, a butterfly is not part of a plant. Moreover, artificial flowers, which correspond to excessively complicated rituals, are incompatible wi... (shrink)

This focus issue considers the normative implications of the recent emergence in genome editing technology known as CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) or CRISPR‐associated protein 9. Originally discovered in the adaptive immune systems of bacteria and archaea, CRISPR enables researchers to make efficient and site‐specific modifications to the genomes of cells and organisms. More accessible, precise, and economic than previous gene editing technologies, CRISPR holds the promise of not only transforming the fields of genetics, agriculture, and human medicine, (...) but also heralding a new era of democratized biotechnology. However, the speed with which developments in the field have progressed threatens to overwhelm our normative sensibilities about the long‐term practical and ethical implications. The contributors to this focus issue attempt to think through some of the more salient moral and practical consequences of CRISPR in the context of religious ethics, particularly as they relate to themes of autonomy, human flourishing, social justice, and the ethics of enhancement. (shrink)

This study analyzes whether academics with advanced degrees from foreign universities are more research productive than their domestic counterparts in the three selected East Asian higher education systems – Korea, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. The three systems have relatively large proportions of foreign degree holders among their professoriates. The data for this study is drawn from the Changing Academic Profession survey. In our negative binominal regression analysis, we found that foreign degree holders are not more research productive than their colleagues (...) with domestic degrees, and even slightly less productive than domestic degree holders in soft disciplines in Korea unless they have further foreign post-doc experience after their PhD. Furthermore, foreign degree holders are less productive in hard disciplines in Malaysia. Finally, we discuss the findings and attribute them to contextual differences between the three localities. (shrink)

This article, which focuses on the political decision making around the leadership of India's Atomic Energy Commission, shows how this process both decentralized scientific authority in India and led to changes in India's nuclear programme. New evidence presented from the deliberations of the Prime Minister's Secretariat shows that Vikram Sarabhai, appointed chairman of the AEC in 1966, following the sudden death of the previous leader, Homi Bhabha, was the favoured candidate from the start of the process. His view on India's (...) nuclear programme contrasted sharply with that of his predecessor, but his authority was protected, in part, from external challenge by the jurisdictional decisions made by the PMS. This article argues that the ambiguity inherent in India's developing nuclear programme was not the result of the apprehension of external threat, but the result of internal tensions within the relevant institutions, which are both revealed and resolved by the appointment process for the new chair. (shrink)

Since the mid-1980s, power sector liberalization has been embraced at different levels in the East Asian countries of China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The dominant rationale underlying power liberalization has been a quest for efficiency improvements, to be achieved by substituting private market activity for public regulations and by opening a country's electricity system to the global economy and management techniques. However, as the power system is increasingly liberalized, the possibility of establishing a local energy system, which has the (...) great potential to restore sustainable environment-society relations, has been diminished. As an alternative to the power liberalization strategy, this paper proposes a restoration of local energy regimes based on the model of an energy commons and a decentralization paradigm. The innovative energy-policy model of the Sustainable Energy Utility, as applied in the case of Seoul, Korea, is explored as a possible option for a local energy strategy for East Asian countries. (shrink)

In this essay I argue that childbearing and various kinds of organ donation are morally analogous activities. I argue, further, that the ethos of giftgiving ought to inform our analyses of both of these forms of bodily life support. This reframing of the abortion and organ donation debates yields new insights into two relatively neglected subtopics. First, though frequently asserted, few have demonstrated why bodily life support--especially in the form of childbearing--cannot be morally required. This comparison yields insights into the (...) reasons for such an axiom. Second, while the giving of bodily life support is sometimes exhorted and almost always respected and admired, its intelligibility and political meaningfulness as a moral choice is rarely explored. This analogical wager reveals why one ought to give another bodily life support. In summary, the analogy yields insights crucial to the development of cogent arguments regarding both the grounds for and limits of the responsibility to give bodily life support. Further, the analogy displays the disparity between what has been demanded traditionally of those who are pregnant and of those men (and women) who by virtue of tissue or blood type can offer other forms of bodily life support. The analogy enables reflection on abortion (and organ donation) to develop in a context free of sexist biases. Finally, efforts are made to assess this giftgiving ethos in light of the feminist "hermeneutics of suspicion" regarding arguments which have and can sacralize victimization. (shrink)

This contribution discusses the United Kingdom (UK) government’s regulatory activities related to nanotechnological development. The central question is what other prudent public regulation can learn from the UK government’s regulatory strategy, its regulatory attitude and its large variety of regulatory measures. Other public regulators can learn from the interactive and integrative UK regulatory approach. They can also draw lessons from the critique on the UK government’s regulatory attitude and its problems to cope with specific nanotechnological challenges. These lessons are based (...) on an evaluation of the UK government’s regulatory activities from the viewpoint of prudent regulation. The notion of responsive regulation, which provides basic ideas for the evaluation methodology, refers to a view on prudence that focuses on moral constitutional values. Interestingly, a similar view on prudence has been discussed in nanoethics. (shrink)